The defense is terrible

[nelsonmuntz]

I thought that maybe Memphis played a perfect game, but it turns out UConn is just a bad defensive team right now. Colorado is not a tournament team, and they scored at will on the Huskies.

Other than Diarra, which guard stays in front of his guy? We skewered Mahaney yesterday, but did you watch this game? Which of the wings/guards were measurably better than Mahaney defensively?

Up front, Karaban is decent, but not a lockdown defender by any means. Reed is decent most of the time, although he has a matador defensive play at least once every 4 minutes, and Johnson just fouls. In Reed and Johnson’s defense, the guards get smoked so often, Okafor would have trouble staying on the floor with this team.

The team can score efficiently, but it can’t afford another loss for a while. I think Hurley should throw out some junk defenses (zone traps such as 2-2-1, 1-3-1) until he can repair the man-to-man.

 

[bendm]

Yes, yes it is

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

Very bad indeed

 

[nelsonmuntz]

UConn’s players have had problems in the past with the help defense in Hurley’s man to man, especially with the rotation of the second helper, and experience really matters in figuring the rotations out.

We don’t have that experience, and our ball defenders are not just getting beaten, they are getting smoked, putting a ton of pressure on the rotation. One of the things to remember is that the guy that screwed up is not always the guy that looks like he screwed up. For example, Diarra often seems to run across the court to close on 3 point shooters that I am pretty sure are not his assignment. When you see Diarra running 20 feet in a close out, which has happened multiple times in both games, I think someone else has blown their assignment and Diarra doesn’t want to give up uncontested threes.

Anecdotally, it feels like defenses, which are so dependent on tight team play, are struggling on a lot of teams in the transfer portal era because of all the player turnover. We just appear to be getting hit extra hard this season.

 

[Stinger92860]

I agree. Someone made the comment that only Diarra can play D. Poor switching and really crappy recognition of where the next pass is going. There is extreme pressure on the rotations and then having to run out to a shooter that is too far away. Our Defensive analytics are going to show how bad we are on that side of the floor.

 

[Horatio]

And Hero Ball, every play. Talented, but very low basketball IQ. They gotta learn how to draw fouls also.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Mahaney on offense looks to score first before anything else. On defense he’s horrible.

Nowell has taken the #2 role and will be gunning for the starting position by Big East play.

Johnson can’t start. Getting 2 fouls in 5 minutes every game destroys any flow we have and puts us in a hole where teams are in the bonus at 10 minutes. It should’ve been a sign when he fouled out at the 300th something ranked team.

Reed should start and play as much as he can. He’ll figure out the defense. He needs to work on some things but I’ll take it when he can get 20 and 11.

If Reed gets into foul trouble it wouldn’t be bad to put Stewart or Singare at the 5.

I have no clue why Stewart barely plays. He’s been playing so well. He knows the offense, is pretty good on both ends, and hustles on every possession.

We’ll be good if Hurley gets the lineup and substitutions down. With so many new pieces it’s going to take a bit. Better now than later

 

[UConnSwag11]

And Hero Ball, every play. Talented, but very low basketball IQ. They gotta learn how to draw fouls also.

Can’t draw fouls when no one attacks the rim. I think playing Nowell and Stewart more will allow us to get to the free throw line

 

[Conndog]

And they need to stay on their feet- they too often jump to make spectacular blocks at shot fakes only to foul the shooter instead.

 

[UConnSwag11]

We can’t play like we did last year. We have to go back to playing like we did with Sanogo.

Offensively we need to throw it into Reed and let him go to work or kick it out. We have plenty of three point shooters and Reed has shown he can score on the post.

Defensively we can’t funnel ball to the rim this year. We had issues with Sanogo guarding the rim but he was getting a double so it was okay, and we had Clingan to give us the spurt off the bench. We don’t have that guy on the bench this year.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

And they need to stay on their feet- they too often jump to make spectacular blocks at shot fakes only to foul the shooter instead.

Or get torched on a pump fake and drive.

 

[jibsey]

UConn’s players have had problems in the past with the help defense in Hurley’s man to man, especially with the rotation of the second helper, and experience really matters in figuring the rotations out.

We don’t have that experience, and our ball defenders are not just getting beaten, they are getting smoked, putting a ton of pressure on the rotation. One of the things to remember is that the guy that screwed up is not always the guy that looks like he screwed up. For example, Diarra often seems to run across the court to close on 3 point shooters that I am pretty sure are not his assignment. When you see Diarra running 20 feet in a close out, which has happened multiple times in both games, I think someone else has blown their assignment and Diarra doesn’t want to give up uncontested threes.

Anecdotally, it feels like defenses, which are so dependent on tight team play, are struggling on a lot of teams in the transfer portal era because of all the player turnover. We just appear to be getting hit extra hard this season.

I think that this is right, and I know that Johnson needs help down there but we can’t let teams shoot uncontested 3’s at the rate they are.
Hurley already knows who the culprits are and it’s going to be his major focus to get this team where it needs to go.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Nowell plays tight man defense the way it's supposed to be played. Too many guys failed to stay with their man or guard the perimeter. The guys that defend should get the minutes.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Nowell plays tight man defense the way it's supposed to be played. Too many guys failed to stay with their man or guard the perimeter. The guys that defend should get the minutes.

On the defensive end, Nowell as a freshman has impressed me the most. Knowing how Hurley teams tend to improve on D throughout the year, I have high hopes for what he will be in February

 

[freshler40]

And they need to stay on their feet- they too often jump to make spectacular blocks at shot fakes only to foul the shooter instead.

We can't read the head and shoulder fakes and don't have the talented bigs, at this point, to help without fouling. Our center positions have given away more than 20 fouls in the two games so were left, in crunch time, with a mixed-up lineup. Maybe our lineup should start small to have our bigs in the game toward the end of the game?

 

[Brochacho]

We can't read the head and shoulder fakes and don't have the talented bigs, at this point, to help without fouling. Our center positions have given away more than 20 fouls in the two games so were left, in crunch time, with a mixed-up lineup. Maybe our lineup should start small to have our bigs in the game toward the end of the game?

Its a bit of both. We can't stop fouling at the 5 because our guards can't stay in front of anyone. We just have to trust that Ball will figure it out - that's the biggest issue in the starting 5 right now (Assuming Diarra remains the starter).

Also, we really need to start strategically deploying Youssouf. Minute or less before a TV timeout? Put him in. We need to steal about 5 minutes a game with him. Go with Reed for 20, Samson for 15, and Youssof for 5. In my opinion, Samson commits stupid fouls. Reed commits tired fouls. Working Youssouf in reduces the chances Samson has to do something stupid and keeps Reed fresher.

 

[Umami Zen]

Nowell knows how to use his foot speed on O and D. Has great court vision and is an excellent facilitator. His gradual impact on results will get him PT as the season goes on.

We don't have great team foot speed to apply pressure at the three point line from our help defenders (also our shooters) . Need some disruptive defenders for an occasional change of pace . Ross seemed to get lost in rotations in first two Maui games and Stewart is better utilized in the corners and the paint. Radical idea- Why not throw IA in there for 5-7 minutes a game to disrupt and close out at the three point line? Is a fast twitch athlete. Might change the made three point percentages-get in passing lanes-loose balls-50/50 balls-pressure defense.

 

[UCONNFAN179]

At one time, DH probably focused too much on defense and we struggled. He began to realize you can't win on defense alone. He focused more on offense and the results spoke for themselves. Our offense was tremendous the last couple of years. However, as great as our offense was, it's easy to forget, we also always had a couple of exceptional defenders on the floor. The last 2 years were an exceptional blend of both offense and defense.

This year, it seems the team has plenty of offense but it is well below average on defense at virtually every position. If they can't find a way to play WAY better team defense than they have so far, this will be a lost season. Playing Nowell and Stewart more over Mahaney and Ross plus limiting Johnson's minutes will help some, but they have a long way to go.

I'm actually concerned with the future too. Did DH get caught up in all the hype about our offense and focus too much on it? Our highly ranked recruits seem similar to many of our current players in that they are very skilled offensive players but not tremendously athletic or known for their defense. UConn has historically beaten more talented teams by shutting them down. If history has shown us anything, it's that you need defense to win championships. I'm hoping DH hasn't forgotten that.

 

[Palatine]

While the inability to stay in front of opponents is a problem, it is not the problem. The problem is guarding the three point line. Memphis shot 54% from three and Colorado shot 56% from three. Both had numerous open threes.

If those numbers do not come down, it doesn't matter who plays. Guarding the three point line needs to be the priority. If we had done that, even with the fouling and blow bys, we win.

 

[UConnJim]

Here are the EvanMiya ratings of our player defense:

1) Diarra 2.56 (rated #75)
2) McNeeley 2.13 (rated #142)
3) Nowell 2.02
4) Karaban 1.96
5) Reed 1.92
6) Johnson 1.63
7) Stewart 1.40
8) Ross 1.23
9) Mahaney 0.51
10) Ball 0.08
Top 4 guards average = 1.29

Compare to last year's defense:

1) Clingan 4.16 (#2)
2) Castle 2.93 (#25)
3) Diarra 2.47 (#64)
4) Spencer 2.19
5) Newton 1.84
6) Karaban 1.82
7) Stewart 1.43
8) Johnson 0.92
9) Ball -0.11
Top 4 guard average = 2.36

Last year, UConn had an elite rim protector with two top defensive guards. This year, there is one top defensive guard and no top rim protector. So, we are seeing guards blow by UConn's guards and nobody able to protect the rim. With Ball and Mahaney in the backcourt at the same time, the defense has really suffered.

I think UConn really needs Nowell, Stewart, Ross, and Ball to step it up as they are all pretty athletic and should be able to defend better than they have been. Mahaney rated 1.51 on D last year at St. Mary's so he should be able to perform better. People forget that Spencer was rated as a poor defender at Rutgers (-0.11), but improved dramatically at UConn to 2.19. Diarra, Karaban, and Johnson are what ehy are, but Johnson has to stop fouling.

You also need to look at rebounding. Here are the rebounds/40 minutes:

1) Reed 17.7
2) Nowell 9.3
3) Stewart 8.7
4) Abraham 8.0
5) McNeeley 7.4
6) Diarra 5.7
7) Karaban 5.4
8) Johnson 5.2
9) Ross 4.8
10) Ball 3.4
11) Mahaney 2.5

The top 4 rebounders don't start.

 

[superjohn]

Other than Diarra, which guard stays in front of his guy? We skewered Mahaney yesterday, but did you watch this game? Which of the wings/guards were measurably better than Mahaney defensively?

Nowell stayed in front of his guy and was measurably better than Mahaney defensively.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

I'm actually concerned with the future too. Did DH get caught up in all the hype about our offense and focus too much on it? Our highly ranked recruits seem similar to many of our current players in that they are very skilled offensive players but not tremendously athletic or known for their defense. UConn has historically beaten more talented teams by shutting them down. If history has shown us anything, it's that you need defense to win championships. I'm hoping DH hasn't forgotten that.

Well, last year's defense was awesome, but in large part because of the big eraser in the middle. Of the starting five only Castle had classic athleticism. Newton, Spencer and Karaban didn't have incredible footspeed or hops, just incredible brains on the court. I don't think athleticism is a major limiting factor.

 

[freescooter]

I also think our bigs are pretty ordinary. Reed was not a dominating guy at Michigan. Johnson was what he was, a quick scorer who struggled to stay on the floor due to his propensity to clobber people on the defensive end. We are trying to replace an excellent college big from 2023 and a generational big in 2024 with a couple of guys who would barely see the floor if either of those guys where still here.
These guys aren’t the problem with defending 3s but they don’t cover for other mistakes like we saw with Sanogo and Clingan.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

At one time, DH probably focused too much on defense and we struggled. He began to realize you can't win on defense alone. He focused more on offense and the results spoke for themselves. Our offense was tremendous the last couple of years. However, as great as our offense was, it's easy to forget, we also always had a couple of exceptional defenders on the floor. The last 2 years were an exceptional blend of both offense and defense.

This year, it seems the team has plenty of offense but it is well below average on defense at virtually every position. If they can't find a way to play WAY better team defense than they have so far, this will be a lost season. Playing Nowell and Stewart more over Mahaney and Ross plus limiting Johnson's minutes will help some, but they have a long way to go.

I'm actually concerned with the future too. Did DH get caught up in all the hype about our offense and focus too much on it? Our highly ranked recruits seem similar to many of our current players in that they are very skilled offensive players but not tremendously athletic or known for their defense. UConn has historically beaten more talented teams by shutting them down. If history has shown us anything, it's that you need defense to win championships. I'm hoping DH hasn't forgotten that.

Danny hasn't forgotten about defense. He realized after the NMSU loss in the NCAAT that you need offense to win games as well as defense.

He has contended (and I tend to agree) that you can teach any reasonably-talented D1-level athlete how to play at least adequate, if not "very good" defense. It's much tougher to teach a prospect how to be a great player on offense. As said earlier in the thread, Newton, Spencer, Calcaterra, etc. were not great on D, but got above-average (or at least average) once at UConn.

Castle came out of high school known as soft/bad on D. How has that turned out with a year of experience with our staff? The kid locked down every assignment in the NCAAs, and is getting assigned to guard players like Curry in the NBA and more than holding his own.

 

[auror]

You also need to look at rebounding. Here are the rebounds/40 minutes:

1) Reed 17.7
2) Nowell 9.3
3) Stewart 8.7
4) Abraham 8.0
5) McNeeley 7.4
6) Diarra 5.7
7) Karaban 5.4
8) Johnson 5.2
9) Ross 4.8
10) Ball 3.4
11) Mahaney 2.5

The top 4 rebounders don't start. Emphasis added.